Long-Range Hexagonal Arrangement of TiO2 Nanotubes by Soft Lithography-Guided Anodization

Long range hexagonally ordered TiO2 nanotube arrangements have been synthesized by employing a novel strategy consisted of combining the well-known Laser Interference Lithography technique together with electrochemical anodization methods. By properly tuning the fabrication parameters that make match between both techniques, TiO2 nanotube arrays having near 32 nm of inner diameter, wall thickness around of 25 nm and 210 nm of lattice parameter were anodically grown on pre-patterned Ti foils over large sample surface areas, typically of several squared centimetres in size. This opens the possibility to the development of new types of functional devices based on self-organized morphologies of anodic TiO2 nanotubes, requiring both high spatially ordered and defect-free nanotube arrangements. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.